Penny Pelican Slot Overview
Penny Pelican is a marine-themed video slot from BGaming, built on a 5x3 grid with 20 fixed paylines. Released in May 2022, it drops players into a bright cartoon harbour beside a fishing village where the titular pelican lives. What stands out here is the pairing of very high volatility with a straightforward feature set; Wilds carry random multipliers, and Free Spins turn them sticky.
Bets range from 0.20 to 50 per spin, and the maximum win sits at 3,525x the stake. Compared to the studio's previous work on titles like Joker Queen and Dragon's Gold 100, Penny Pelican leans into a softer visual style while keeping the math model aggressive. I found the design choice to use a hand-drawn, seaside aesthetic refreshing, though the feature count is modest.
Symbols and Paytable
Across the 13 symbols, the paytable splits into three tiers. Low-paying royals (A through J) fill the bottom; anchors and starfish sit in the middle; and shells, treasure chests, crabs, and fish make up the premium set. Five-of-a-kind payouts range from 1.25x for the lowest royal up to 37.5x for the top fish symbol. You need at least three matching symbols left to right to register a win.
Penny Pelican herself is the Wild, appearing exclusively on reels 2, 3, and 4. Each Wild lands with a random x2 or x3 multiplier applied to every win line it joins. When multiple Wilds appear in one combination, their multipliers are added together before the payout is calculated. The lighthouse acts as the Scatter, limited to reels 1, 3, and 5.
Symbol Payouts
Free Spins and Buy Bonus
Landing three lighthouse Scatters triggers the Free Spins round. Before any spins play out, a Fortune Wheel randomly selects between 9 and 18 free games. During this bonus, all Wilds that land on the middle three reels become sticky and hold their multiplier values for the remainder of the round. I can see the appeal; as sticky Wilds accumulate, later spins become considerably more valuable.
One drawback is the absence of a retrigger mechanic. Once the Fortune Wheel sets your spin count, there is no way to extend it. For players who prefer to skip the base game grind, a Buy Bonus option is available at 75x the current bet. The price scales automatically when you change your wager, and the button deactivates while the bonus round is active.
Bonus Buy Options
3 Bonus symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5 trigger the Free Spins round. A Fortune Wheel determines 9 to 18 free spins. All Wild symbols become Sticky with their x2 or x3 multipliers for the duration of the round. No retrigger is available.
Players can purchase instant access to the Free Spins round for 75x the current bet. The feature price adjusts automatically with bet changes.
Feature Cost: 75x
Volatility, RTP, and Max Win
Penny Pelican carries an RTP of 95.98%, which falls just a fraction below the widely accepted 96% average. Very high volatility means dry spells are common, and the base game can drag without Wild multiplier hits. The free spins trigger averages once every 177 spins, so patience is required. A hit frequency around 3.55 (roughly 28% of spins producing some return) keeps small wins trickling in, but meaningful payouts depend heavily on the bonus round.
Maximum win potential is 3,525x the bet. That figure is decent for a slot with this structure, though it will not excite players chasing five-figure multipliers. For a BGaming release with a cartoon wrapper, the math profile sits firmly in the high-risk camp.
